Mapping the Seas

Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have developed two new broadband acoustic systems that could represent a major improvement in how fish and other marine life are counted and classified. “If single frequency sensors provide an image of the ocean that is like looking at a black and white television,” then these acoustic systems “are like viewing high-definition color TV. The new instruments measure sound scattering at, not just a few frequencies, but over a continuous range of frequencies, generating broadband acoustic spectra.”